Business groups file suit to stop ergonomics rule

WASHINGTON (Nov. 13)—The National Association of Manufacturers has filed an appeal in U.S. appeals court against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration´s final rule on ergonomics, which is set to appear in the Nov. 14 "Federal Register." The new rule is "fatally ambiguous" that makes a bad proposal even worse by mandating "trigger levels" for physical activity at which all employers must start implementing corrective action, said Baruch Fellner, lead counsel for the coalition. Groups such as the American Trucking Associations and the National Federation of Independent Business also denounced the rule as "based on unproven science." On the other hand, the AFL-CIO—which fought for promulgation of an ergonomics rule—hailed the standard as "the most important worker safety action developed in (OSHA´s) history." The rule is to take effect Jan. 16.